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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Here is a video from on of the students of Jefferson College of Health Sciences. It is a view through their eyes of our Department and their program. You guys at work will not be able to see this as it is hosted on YouTube. Enjoy.UPDATE: The video was taken offline, and now has be edited to give credit for some of the photos. The video is live again. Enjoy.

If anyone is interested in viewing the original version, feel free to log onto youtube in you off time. It's a little longer and includes more pistures of the dept. It should be under Jefferson College of Health Sciences or look up the user 1auburnhater.

I noticed that Mike Overackers site has been taken down, because of the JCHS class of 08 video.(mostly because of that). Noone in the class ment to offend anyone, we were solely trying to share our experiences while at JCHS and our ride along time with Roanoke Fire EMS., with friends, family, and who ever else wanted to see it. Now i know that there are copyright laws and blah blah, but all the pictures were of students and incident that they were at.

To the student that posted the apology, we appreciate your apology bu not all of the pictures posted were by students that were actually @ the incidents. I saw a few pics of incidents that occured after hours & on incidents I was at that no students were at. Again, thanx for the apology but, despite your claim, not all of the pics were taken by the students. Some were indeed taken by non-occupied fireman on scene of these incidents, who then passed them along to Mike & Rhett.

As far as I can tell, there are no pictures on the original video taken "after hours." Even if they were taken by non-occupied firemen, or Mr. Overacker, I still don't see why everybody is making such a huge deal about this. This is a privatly made, non-profit, completely recreational movie made purely for entertainment. I don't know how the students that made the movie feel, but seriously.

It is a big deal if you make a living doing photography. My photos are MY property, just like your car or truck , your house, your dog, etc. are YOUR property. I don't see you letting people use your property without your permission, so why do you think I should let people use my property without my permission. Here is the bottom line. If you do not see any problems with people using my images without my permission, then that means you find stealing is an acceptable behavior, and you have a real character issue. Any court of law will back me up.

The pictures from Mikes site are copyrighted. He spends his time, his money, and uses his talent and equipment so there is a pictorial history of the fires within the city (not to get promoted- after all, he is retired;-), all of this at no charge to the firefighters. All he asks in return is that if his pictures are used, the person ask permission and that the copyright remains intact. I dont think thats too unresonable.

Look at the history that Capt. Wiseman left behind. We need someone to take these pictures, and if Mike chooses to continue we should support him in any way we can. After all, in 20 years, when Rhett is trying to put together the forth edition of his book, he WILL need pictures or no one will buy it!

I sent photos to one person from JCHS, and he understood the terms and conditions of their use. Evidently, somewhere along the line, that information was not passed on. That does not excuse anyone from using copyrighted images without permission. Several photos that I did not send to any students were used, so many images were taken directly from my website. My website CLEARLY states the terms of use of my fire images.The bottom line is that unless you own the images or videos, you must have permission to publish another persons work. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. The student that has his corrected video on this site was a very pleasant person to work with, apologized for the error, and corrected it. Top notch response. The other student would not take responsibility, and blamed other people. However, he said he will correct his video as well.

First offense copyright infringement conviction carries penalties of up to 5 years in prison, and up to $250,000 in fines, so according to the court system, it is not some simple, little offense. It is a Felony offense. That is on the criminal side of the courts. On the civil side, photographers have been awarded well over a quarter of a million dollars for the copyright infringement of one image.

I don't want to cause problems, but I must protect my work. I will let most fire related people use my images without compensation, with the only requirement being given image credit. This is as long as they are not used in a commercial action. All anyone has to do is ask. I have made prints for alot of firefighters. All you have to do is ask.

I love documenting the fire service, and the absolutely great job that the firefighters and medics do every single day for the citizens of Roanoke. Am I asking so much of people to just be polite, and ask permission? If so, then I need to take a second look at whether it is worth my time, money, and energy to continue.

I'll have to back Mike up same as KW. I have obtained several copies of pictures from Mike and he has always said all of HIS images were up for grabs. Be it for the union's Wiseman Project or personal use without fee or issue and all he asked in return was a simple recognition (which in each photo description of his we have a small line of who and where it was taken. This isn't much for someone to ask that, as previously stated, does this for free at his own expense.

I have collected THOUSANDS of images from Overacker, Rhett, myself, Rob Reid, Willie Wines (old and young), Baron Gibson, Chief Patton, Chief Obenchain, Terry King, RT Flora, and many, many other retired firefighters that most of you don't even know. With each one I try to document who gave us the photo and this is a very, very small thank you to each of them.

That last part is the key issue here. Those pictures, like the ones used in the video, are private property and cannot be used without consent. And if you do use it acknowledge it and say thank you.

Press on Mike, but please continue your work and thanks again for letting us use your work.TC

I'm not going to disagree with you Mike and your statements. I too believe that ignorance of the law is no excuse to break it. I also respect the fact that you have a right to control every aspect of your work. When you say that I didn't take responsibility and blamed other people, I think is a little misinformed. When we spoke before, I never told you that the incident ultimatly wasn't my fault, because it is. I simply stated to due to a lack of communication between more than one person, information was not relayed to me that should have been. Unless I was a regular viewer of you work, I would never know those pictures belonged to you. Point being, I'm not trying to burn any bridges by my statements, but I believe in this case, all of the elements shoul be examined before someone is blamed.JG

The one video has been fixed and credit has been given to Michael Overacker. We are all sorry about the misunderstanding, all we were trying to do is show how much we enjoyed riding along with the city during our externs.

About the Author

Rhett Fleitz is a Lieutenant with the Roanoke Fire-EMS Department in the City of Roanoke, Virginia. He is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Roanoke Fire Fighters Association IAFF Local #1132. Rhett is currently continuing historical research and data collection after the Late Captain Wiseman. In 2006, he completed his first book, "Firefighting in Roanoke", a pictorial look at the history of the Fire Service in the City of Roanoke.

"Firefighting in Roanoke" is available online or you can purchase it in Roanoke at The Roanoke Antique Mall, The Transportation Museum, or the Williamson Road Pharmacy.

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